Shopping
by Jedi Knight Cheeze
Summary: There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's Tamaki Suoh.


**What's this? Jedi Knight Cheeze is posting?**

**This fic mocked me at every turn. And now it's extremely late for its purpose. First attempt at Ouran, too. Yay. **

**But in any case, happy birthday, Sable Katze! Here's that "birthday surprise." Not much, but I hope you enjoy it. ^^ Seeing as you were also my go-to person for this fic. xD Yay for talking about it but never saying it was for you! : D**

* * *

"Tamaki-Senpai? I'm not coming to the host club tomorrow. Is that ok?"

Haruhi had caught him in the halls in between classes. She had no doubt Tamaki would let her skip for a day. What she was afraid of was…

"Eh? Why?"

…His undying curiosity. She sighed.

"Because it's my father's birthday tomorrow and he wants me to stay home with him."

"Oh, Haruhi, that's so sweet of you! You're the picture of a perfect daughter!" he said happily. "…What are you going to get him?"

Haruhi thought about it. "I don't know. I might not be able to get him anything-"

"What!?" Tamaki started, gaping at Haruhi. "Haruhi, I'm surprised at you! Not getting your father anything for his birthday…shame on you!"

_So much for the image of a perfect daughter, _she thought. Out loud, she answered, "Senpai, I'm broke. If you believe that strongly that my dad should get a gift, you buy him something."

Tamaki brightened noticeably. "What a great idea! We'll go shopping right after school today!"

The bell rang, telling students they had one minute left to get to class. Tamaki winked, then ran off in the opposite direction, leaving Haruhi all alone.

"…I was joking!"

XxXxXxXxXx

He caught up with her after school just as she was beginning to think he had forgotten. So much for that.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Senpai, you really don't have to do this…"

"Nonsense! Of course I do." He took her arm and sped up their pace. "There's so much to do," he said, more to himself than to Haruhi. Then he turned to face her. "Well…do you have any idea what you want to get him?"

"I haven't really thought about it," Haruhi answered, ignoring the dirty look Tamaki gave her.

"Well," he said, "We'll just have to try everywhere until we find something."

Haruhi groaned.

Tamaki's car was an expensive model (of course) and one that Haruhi had to admit was pretty nice. Still, the ride into town was anything but comfortable. Tamaki jabbered on about anything and everything, while Haruhi just nodded, feeling stupid. As they pulled into their first stop, Haruhi looked over at Tamaki in surprise.

"Senpai, this store is much too expensive-"

"Nonsense!"

He jumped out of the car and ran around to open the door for her.

"I shop here all the time. No big deal," he added.

_That's right, _Haruhi thought as she stepped out of the car, _Rich._

A bell tinkled as they entered the shop. A very fancy tinkle, Haruhi noted with some amusement.

And Tamaki was off.

"Oh! Haruhi! What about this?"

He had dashed over to a clothes rack and pointed out a very flashy and gaudy two-piece suit. Haruhi stared at it for several seconds before she was able to respond.

"Senpai, that looks like something you'd wear. Not my dad."

"Really?" he looked innocently down at the clothing. "Well, I suppose so. Come on!"

He grabbed her hand and before she could protest dragged her to the dressing rooms. "Wait here!" he said, and dashed inside.

"Tamaki!"

Too late. Haruhi sighed.

Several minutes later, his voice came from inside.

"Haruhi!"

"What, Senpai?"

"It won't fit!"

She sighed again. "Just hurry up."

He emerged a few minutes later.

"Finally. Come on, I need to-"

"Ooh! Look at that!"

He was gone again. Grumbling, Haruhi followed.

This time she found him examining a pair of dress pants.

"What do you think?" He asked.

"I think you have a pair exactly like that already."

"You can never have too many nice pants, Haruhi!"

"…Right. Can we please look for a present for my dad now?"

"Oh. Of course!"

And look they did. And not only did they not find anything for Haruhi's dad, but Tamaki found about a million things for himself, slowing the pace down considerably.

It was half an hour after Haruhi asked to go to a new store and had received 'in a minute' as a response, as Tamaki perused a rack of sunglasses, that Haruhi finally spoke up.

"Senpai?"

No answer. He was absorbed in his browsing. She spoke again, firmer.

"_Senpai_."

"Huh?"

A response, but still no eye contact. She grabbed his arm and pulled him aside.

"Will you forget about shopping for yourself for just a minute?" she said angrily.

He blinked innocently. "What's wrong?"

"We came here to find something for my dad. There's nothing here that he would like. But we've been here for hours while you look at stuff! I didn't want to say anything because you were nice enough to take me here in the first place, but all you care about is shopping for you." She turned away. "Just…just take me home. I'll buy a gift for my dad by myself somehow."

She was expecting waterworks. Instead, Tamaki's voice reached her ears.

"Wait, Haruhi. Don't give up yet. I know one more place we can look."

XxXxXxXxXx

Haruhi wasn't sure what Tamaki's idea was, but she wasn't sure she trusted it. And as they pulled into the parking lot of a pet store, she groaned.

"Senpai…"

"Trust me, Haruhi! This is the place."

He opened the door for her again. As they entered, Haruhi was hit with an array of barks, meows, tweets, and a variety of smells she didn't want to identify. She turned to the right and came face to face with a parrot. She arched an eyebrow. It squawked.

"Haruhi! Kittens!"

Haruhi made her way over to Tamaki, who stood in front of a box filled with the little fluff balls. She smiled. They were pretty cute.

"Look," Tamaki said, and pointed to the smallest of the kittens. He picked it up, very gently. "This one will need a good home."

"Senpai, I don't know-"

The kitten looked up at Haruhi with big, shiny brown eyes. It mewed softly.

Haruhi sighed. Damn it. It had her.

"Ok," she said, "Dad will love him."

Tamaki smiled up at her brightly, eyes shining. Despite herself, she laughed.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing," she replied, smiling. How could she explain to him that for a split second, he had reminded her of the tiny kitten he held in his hand?

He smiled and gently pet the kitten. It purred.

"So do you forgive me, then?" he asked.

She smiled. "I guess."

"What are you going to name him?"

"I'll leave that up to my dad."

XxXxXxXxXx

Two weeks later, Haruhi was playing with little Aiko outside when one of their neighbors walked by.

"Aw!" She remarked, "This is the little cutie your father keeps talking about."

She smiled. "Yep. This is him."

The neighbor bent down to pet Aiko. "So this was your birthday gift to him?"

"Yes. Well," Haruhi added, smiling, "from me and a good friend."

"That's sweet. Well, I'll see you later."

As her neighbor walked away, Haruhi laid down in the grass and pulled Aiko onto her stomach.

"Ok, Bright Eyes. One more time. Do the Tamaki move."

The cat gave her a piercing look, swooned, and fell on his back dramatically. Haruhi laughed and scratched his belly.

"Good cat."

* * *

**Random Tidbit: Aiko means Little Love.**


End file.
